In the field of physical security, disarming an alarm system typically involves a user keying in a pre-assigned 4 digit PIN code upon entry into a secured home, apartment, or place of business. Unfortunately, this common act is very often a source of false alarms and customer frustration stemming from miskeying the PIN, double key entries on a sticky/intermittent key pad, or juggling or dropping articles that may be in hand while entering the doorway. To make matters worse, the user can be trying to complete this operation while under strict time pressure to deactivate the alarm system before a predetermined entry timer elapses, such as, for example, 30 seconds, and an alarm is called to the central station. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an opportunity to make the disarming process easier and less stressful and to provide an improved user experience while preserving total system security by only allowing authorized individuals to disarm the system.
What is needed is the equivalent of a “Good Guy/Bad Guy Detector” at the door that can facilitate the disarming of an alarm system while preserving the correct authorization of individuals. Such detector, which can be part of an overall alarm system, should ideally work by using unique physical characteristics of an individual (biometrics based) without having to possess a “key fob,” access card, or other ID token that can be lost or stolen. According to such detection, hands free operation could be maintained to allow articles or packages to be carried or gloves to be worn during cold weather. It would be further advantageous if such an entry and authorization process were quick and convenient and did not interfere with a user's ingress or egress at the door.